While there's much speculation about how Republicans will run Capitol Hill in the next Congress, the lame-duck one that returns to Washington today must
tackle big challenges of its own. With a continuing resolution set to expire in
mid-December, agency budgets hang in the balance.

The appropriations process was supposed to be easier this year compared to last, because lawmakers had signed off on a bipartisan deal that set top-line spending levels for the next two years. But action in both the House and the Senate appears to have largely stalled.

The House is beating the Senate five to nothing in the race to pass next year's appropriations bills. The topline spending amounts for federal agencies are already set, but even so Congress isn't exactly sprinting to finalize the budgets. But the clock is still ticking and September 30th is only about three months away. David Hawkings is Senior Editor of Roll Call. He explained where Congress stands in the appropriations process on In Depth with Francis Rose.

After a month of negotiations, the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees unveiled a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill this week funding the government for the remainder of fiscal 2014. From federal pay and benefits to a further decline in the Internal Revenue Service's budget, read about three key takeaways of the bill.

Republican leaders plan to pass a short-term funding bill this week to extend by three days the deadline for wrapping up a massive, $1 trillion-plus catch-all spending bill covering funding for the rest of the year. The short-term measure would give lawmakers until midnight next Saturday to pass the larger funding bill. The current stopgap funding bill expires at midnight on Wednesday.

Congress returns to work today with a crowded agenda and little time. Lawmakers must come to agreement on 2014 funding before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30 or risk a government shutdown. Also on the agenda: coming up with an alternative to the automatic spending constraints known as sequestration and negotiating a raise in the government's borrowing limit. There are also other measures affecting federal employees that remain to be worked out, including legislation to overhaul the cash-strapped Postal Service and a potential 1 percent pay raise for civilian federal workers.

Top officials at the Treasury Department and the General Services Administration say budget cuts being considered by House lawmakers - and that have since adopted by the House Appropriations Committee - would erode their agencies' missions. In sharply divided vote mostly along partisan lines Wednesday, the committee approved the fiscal 2014 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill.